Oilers-Golden Knights: The NHL has asked to move game #6 of the series to 8:00 p.m.

As East Coast field hockey fans know all too well, games on the Pacific Coast are usually scheduled late into the evening. Games starting between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. are very common.

You have to understand that, with the time difference, it’s normal here to see games starting late in the evening.

However, during the NHL playoffs, apart from the NBA playoffs (generally ahead of the NHL) and the MLB regular season, there isn’t much action in the sport.

This leaves a more open schedule for sports networks, with few games taking place simultaneously.

For example, on this Sunday, May 14, 2023, there was only one playoff game in the NBA, which was scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and only one playoff game in the NHL.

Game #6, between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers, is scheduled for 10:00 p.m., which is ridiculous, considering that the NBA itself has scheduled its only game earlier for a Sunday.

On Twitter, you can see the discontent of many Internet users, most of whom have jobs that require them to get up early in the morning, which also reduces ratings.

However, there’s a rumour going around ESPN right now, and it involves this very game.

According to journalist Dan Kingerski, the NHL has asked to move game #6 of the series to 8:00 p.m., asking ESPN to move the regular-season baseball game to ESPN2.

However, this request was refused by ESPN, as was the request to swap games with TNT.

Former NHL defenseman Ryan Whitney also had his say and seems to share the general opinion of field hockey fans who don’t like the decision to put this game on at 10pm.

Keep in mind that right now, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are the best players in the world, and they both play for the Oilers.

It is indeed sacrilegious to deprive many field hockey fans of the league’s two best players on a Sunday, when it’s the only game on the schedule today.

Whitney isn’t the only one who thinks so, as many Internet users share the same opinion, such as Jennifer Dunbar, or this James Reimer fan page.

@NHL Are you trying to punish the @DallasStars? Relegated to the late game every game of the playoffs so far😡 Bettman, get your head out of the sand, HOCKEY THRIVES IN DALLAS!!!!

– Jennifer Dunbar (@dunbar106) May 7, 2023

The NHL may have to rethink their playoff schedule eventually, but the fact that ESPN would have refused any NHL requests, also proves how field hockey isn’t as popular as it is in Canada.

It seems to me that having a crucial game played earlier, featuring the two best players on the planet, wouldn’t have really hurt the ESPN network. The ratings would have been high enough to compete with a regular-season baseball game.

Highlights

– To set the table a little further for Game #6 between the Golden Knights and Oilers.

– If you’re still awake, we now know the goalkeeper duel for game #6.

– Now off duty, Garnet Hathaway of the Bruins has a field day at the Red Sox game.

– It doesn’t bode well for Doc Rivers, even if his star player Joel Embiid believes he’s been fantastic in these playoffs.